Another Marvellous week. Acute Floor Sister Lisa Richards has told how having an improved digital handover means she can assess what capacity is needed before patients are referred, and it's having a really positive impact.

“Can I just say that prior to starting the new way of taking referrals I felt  that this would be a nightmare and would not work . Happy to say I was wrong and in fact have felt that it has worked very well.

By using firstnet I am able judge what capacity is needed on the Acute Floor even before they are referred , maybe this is something that we should have always been doing but never did.

Referrals from ED - information given to me includes name , DOB , MRN , brief description of complaint ( ie chest pain , SOB , collapse ) and also special requirements ( side room , telemetry).

This speeds up time for the ED coordinator as a full handover is not given , but allows me to read on firstnet exactly what the Drs and nurses who are caring for these patients have written and allocate them a bed in the appropriate area.

Flow appears better especially to the wards as it does not need to be the nurse looking after the patient who refers the patient and gives a full handover . This therefore saves time for the nurses on the Acute Floor and a job the coordinator can easily do.

AAU staff are also looking at firstnet to see if they can pull anyone into ambulatory”.

Another improvement is that a Flow chart has been developed by Matron Chris Lord-Tyrer, to ensure that any staffing gaps have been reviewed and appropriate plans made this will be updated daily and can be accessed in the Patient Flow offices.